For analyzing a fluidic sample, the fluidic sample may be filled into a sample container. An electromagnetic radiation beam may then be brought in interaction with the fluidic sample, wherein the scattered electromagnetic radiation beam may then carry information indicative of physical and/or chemical properties of the fluidic sample.
Reference is made to US 2004/100630, GB 2,494,734, DE 10 2008 007743, US 2004/251134, GB 2,494,735 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,643.
WO 2011/092510 discloses a cuvette for characterizing liquid samples by static and/or dynamic light scattering, having a body designed to retain a liquid sample by surface tension alone. Also provided is a light scattering instrument comprising a cuvette. Further provided is a method for preparing a cuvette containing a liquid sample, comprising the step of loading a cuvette with a liquid sample. Additionally provided is a method for characterizing a liquid sample, said method comprising the step of analyzing a liquid sample contained within a cuvette. Cuvettes may be used to retain a liquid sample and may also be used in light scattering experiments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,321 relates to a device for measuring the luminous intensity scattered by thin films of colloidal media. It is more particularly intended for submicron grain-size analysis by photon correlation, and comprises a device for measuring the luminous intensity scattered by thin films of colloidal media. The device includes a monochromatic luminous source, a converging optical system focusing the source on the thin film to be analyzed, at least one photosensitive detector detecting the light scattered or backscattered by the thin film, and a system for processing the signal coming from one or more photodetectors.
An apparatus for electrophoretic light scattering (ELS) for measuring the zeta potential of particles in a dispersion may use an interferometric arrangement in which light scattered by the particles of the sample is superposed with a reference beam. A corresponding arrangement may also be used for determining the particle size by dynamic light scattering (DLS).
Such apparatuses can be equipped with a detection system using a fiber optic. The apparatus may be optically adjusted for a specific sample and can then be used for other samples having the same dispersion medium. However, if samples shall be analyzed which use other solvents, in particular solvents having other values of the refraction index, it is necessary to re-adjust the optics.
Commercial apparatuses, for instance Malvern Zetasizer, are equipped with specific variable compensation modules which balance out such a variation resulting from a solvent having another refraction index value. This allows a user to analyze samples having different refraction index values.
Thus, in conventional apparatuses, a change in the refraction index of sample holder and/or sample results either in a change of the trajectory of the scattered electromagnetic radiation beam leaving the sample holder, or needs to be compensated by the addition of additional optical elements. The former situation results in inaccuracies of the measurement, the latter situation results in a complex device with a high area consumption and/or is cumbersome for a user.